Ren's Second Year
by MischievousAngel0923
Summary: Serenity is back for her Second Year. Ren's new year at Hogwarts is definitely not turning out the way she thought it would, with an annoying new teacher and a strained frienship she really doesn't need the fear of someone turning her into stone! Follow Ren as she learns more about friendship, fears and keeping promises. HP/OC Rated T for safety.
1. Summer Surprises

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, I only own the OCs I created for this story

**AN:** I'm back and totally ready to go! I spent last night getting ready for year 2; watched the second movie ran through my ideas, and oh the ideas I have! I hope everyone can be patient with me because even though I have some great ideas for the characters this is my least favorite book in the series and because of that I've been struggling a bit to write this. I was able to through in a clue about what might be happening with Ren later in the story! Foreshadowing is so much fun!

By the way I'm a bit stuck on the title and suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks!  
MischievousAngel

* * *

Serenity lay lazily in the sun as she watched a few ducklings play in the pond in front of her. Her whole summer had been like this thus far. Oh, she read a few books here and there, helped Emma plant a new herb garden in her backyard, went over to Juliet's for Transfiguration tutoring, and in the late of the evenings she and her Uncle would often sit out by their pound and roast marshmallows over a small fire; a favorite memory he had as a child and one he passed on to her; but honestly Serenity found herself mostly laying in this spot and thinking of her friends that she had not seen over the summer, well Hermione and Harry that is.

She had visited the Weasleys a few times, Emma had kept her plans with Mrs. Weasley and had brought Serenity over for dinner and though Weasleys had been disappointed that er Uncle Remus couldn't make it, they did understand; he had after all been; "away on business."

What was funny, was that though Ron had been happy to have a friend over, it was Ginny who craved her attention and begged her mother to allow Ren to spend the weekends with her. Not that she minded at all, Ginny was without a doubt a blast; the fiery little red head amused her to no end and together they rivaled the twins' mischievous nature, much to Mrs. Weasley's dismay.

But Ron and his family were the only ones she had seen. Despite their promise to each other she hadn't been able to visit Hermione at all. That surprise her parents had told her about at the train station was a summer cruise, so the girls' hopes to see each other during the summer had been slightly crushed, though they had kept in touch through detailed letters.

Then there was Harry. Oh that boy! The thought of Harry upset her to no end. That stupid boy never even replied to any of her, Ron, or Hermione's letters; and to think after everything they did for him! She even had gotten him a gift for his birthday, not that she would even send it to him now! Of course that didn't mean it wasn't in her overnight bag, the one she used when she would visit Ron and Ginny, you know…just in case.

The sound of the back door shutting jarred Ren from her musings, she glanced over to see her Uncle as he walked towards her. Ren turned her attention back to the ducklings and listened as he sat down at the base of the tree that had been providing her shade.

Remus tilted his head back against the tree trunk and sighed, for the past week Ren had been restless and a little upset; it had begun to worry him, "What has been troubling you munchkin?" he asked as he gazed up into the sky.

Serenity pushed off of the ground and moved to sit next to her Uncle, "Harry's been ignoring all our letters all summer! If he didn't want to be my friend he should've... he should've just said so!" she mumbled angrily.

Remus wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close; when he had first heard of her friendship with Harry Potter he had been shocked to say the least, then a bit, for lack of a better word, concerned. The stories she had told of her new friends reminded him so much of his own adventures with her and Harry's fathers. He wasn't sure how to feel of the second generation being as close as the first, and so he hoped and prayed to any gods or goddesses listening that he had raised Ren right and that she wouldn't make the same mistakes her father did.

That thought itself made him pull the girl in closer to him and kiss her brow; "you know he lives with strict muggles Ren" he began when she interrupted with a snort; in a flash, Remus moved his other arm over and pinched her side which made her yelp and glare a little before she allowed him to continue, "it's very possible that he just hasn't been _allowed_ to answer, it doesn't mean that he doesn't miss you."

She paused at his suggestion, that actually had sounded very likely and suddenly she wondered why she hadn't thought that before, hadn't he told her about what his home life was like, she should have suspected the idea first before she jumped into any sort of conclusion.

Ren grinned and smiled at her Uncle as she kissed his cheek, "Thanks Uncle Remus, I should have thought of that earlier" she frowned a little, "I really need to learn not to jump to conclusions."

He rolled his eyes lightly and gave a chuckle, "Well now that I solved that issue, don't you have some packing to do? If I remember correctly you promised a certain young witch you'd be at her house today by dinner."

Remus watched Ren as she nodded her head, reluctantly got up and walked back towards their cottage. He sighed as he gazed up once again into the clouds and wondered of he had become so old, and how fast his little witch seemed to be growing up.

* * *

Serenity grabbed her overnight bag as Remus pulled her into a warm hug, "I want you to have fun this weekend, alright munchkin?"

She nodded her head and kissed her Uncle on his cheek, "promise, Uncle Remus. I'll see you tomorrow!" she replied with an excited grin as she stepped into the fireplace, she could see him smile softly and waved one last time before she called out her destination, "The Burrow!"

As always the sudden rushing jolt of Floo powder made Ren want to squirm but she had learned a long time ago that doing such a thing could, well, you just could end up in the wrong fireplace. She soon spotted the exit she wanted to enter and quickly took a step through. She smiled as she gazed around the cluttered room; as much as she loved her own home the Weasley house was always full of the most amusing trinkets.

"Ren! You're here!" called out a red headed blur that rushed down the stairs of her home and into the older girl's arms.

"Hey, Gin! How was your week?"

"Oh! It was alright I…." but before the girl could even begin to tell her anything a stampede of noise raced down the steps, "Oy, Ginny!" she heard Ron call out, "is that Ren?" Ginny shared a grin with the older girl as Ron and twins hurried into the room.

"Ren! You'll never believe what our dad found out this morning!" Ron said as he grabbed her bag away from her and set it on the couch.

Fred nodded his head seriously, which was really odd to see, "yeah, turns out that friend of yours? The one who hasn't been writing to you? He got a warning from the Ministry about using magic out of school and in front of muggles."

Her eyes widened, "_Harry_ used magic outside of school? No way!" she said with a shake of her head, there was no way she could see Harry doing anything that could get him expelled from the place he called home.

George nodded in amusement, "yeah! Apparently he used the Hover Charm."

Ron, who had sat down on the couch, frowned a little and shook his head, "what I want to know is why he hadn't answered our letters. Do you know I wrote to him twelve times and not a single reply back?"

Serenity rolled her eyes in annoyance; she did know. It was something they had talked about the last time she was here and for some reason he seemd to forget that Harry hadn't written to her either, "You know my Uncle Remus suggested maybe he isn't allowed to answer. I know he's told you what his home life is like Ron."

"You really think that muggles would be able to stop him from getting our post?"

"Really Ron? Their muggles not stupid, of course they could find a way! Maybe what we need to do is go ask him in person! Besides what if something is really wrong?"

Ron still looked a bit skeptical but nodded his head, "Fine, let's do this, how are we going to get him out?"

They heard throats clearing from behind them and glanced at the twins who stood beside Ginny with their well known mischievous grins on their faces, "We could take dad's car" Fred suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrow.

Ren, for once was really confused, "what car?"

Fred and George shared a look with Ron, "It's out in the shed" George said with a grin.

Fred smirked, "A Ford Anglia"

They threw an arm over each other's shoulders and at the same time stated proudly, "A car that Dad just so happened to enchant to make it fly!"

Ren's confusion instantly turned into excitement, "that's perfect; we could fly over to his home and find out what's going on! We'll have to leave late tonight and get back before anyone notices" she thought out loud.

Ron nodded his head in agreement with the plan, when suddenly Ginny, who had been silent this whole time, spoke up determinedly, "I want to go too!"

All three boys shook their heads, "No way Gin, we're already probably gonna get in major trouble. If we take you along then mum will have our heads!" Ron cried out.

Ginny glared angrily at her brothers before she looked towards Ren for support. Serenity sighed, as much as she loved Ginny, Ron was right, but she also knew how that sneaky mind of hers worked. She silently groaned as she shook her head and suggested the only thing she knew would keep Gin's silence, "Gin, your brother's are right, " she ignored Ginny's glare and cry of protest as she continued with her suggestion. "Look, it wouldn't be smart for me to go as well, your mother will figure it out for sure. So Ginny and I'll distract the family for as long as possible, you guys go ahead and get Harry."

The younger girl stared at her suspiciously before she nodded her consent. Her brothers let out a breath and each shot Ren a thankful smile. Gin rolled her eyes again at all of them, she sighed and glanced up at her friend, "How are we going to distract mum Ren?" she asked.

"I dunno, I was thinking we could sleep out in the living room, that way if the boys make a racket we can say it was us, but that's as far as I got."

"I think we can work with that, we can still paint our nails right?" Ren giggled and nodded; ever since she had shown Ginny how muggles painted their nails the little girl had been fascinated.

* * *

With their plan in place the group of them decided that their best bet would be to wait for their mother to go to bed, of course that meant they had to get through dinner without raising any suspicion, though Ren doubted they suceeded there. Not only did they all fidget nervously while they ate, but the twins were on their best behavior, which really had Mrs. Weasley eyeing them suspiciously.

Ginny waited for her father to leave before asking her mother if she and Ren could sleep on in the Living Room. Now that had been an interesting conversation, including when Mrs. Weasley had asked why they would want to sleep their when Ginny had a perfectly good room to use. Ren had almost freaked out when Ginny began to stutter unsure how to respond.

Quickly thinking on her feet Ren had grabbed out the bag of marshmallows she had stuffed in her bag and showed them to Gin's mother. "It's a muggle tradition my Uncle and I share," she began, "we roast them over a fire" she paused, widened her eyes a little and begged, "Please Mrs. Weasley."

Eventually Mrs. Weasley agreed and walked away to do some more house chores all the while mumbling something about how muggle obsessed her family was, and how muggles did the oddest things, which only caused Ginny and Ren to collapse into a heap of giggles.

By 9:30pm Mrs. Weasley had gone to bed. Serenity was in the middle of painting Ginny's nails a glittery blue when the boys began to creep down the stairs. The girls paused with what they were doing and watched them as clumsily hurried through their cluttered Living Room.

"Be careful!" Ren whispered harshly as she watched Ron almost knock over a lamp.

George snickered and pulled his younger brother up by the scruff of his collar, "we'll be back around two okay?" he whispered to them.

The girls nodded and wished the brothers luck as they excited the house and hurried to the car. "Think they'll make it?" Ginny asked as she watched her brother's fly away in the car, the car dropped a few feet and sputtered a bit before flying up again, hitting the tops of some trees along the way.

Ren frowned at the scene, "I hope so," she said with a sigh and turned away to sit back down and waited for Ginny to do the same. Serenity pulled the glittery nail polish she had been using and started to paint Gin's nails again.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before Ginny spoke again, "Ren?"

"hmm?"

"What if no one likes me?"

Serenity's head shot up and gazed at the younger witch with curiousity. She thought back to earlier in the summer when they had discussed how hard First Year could be. Ren hadn't held anything back, she didn't want Ginny to enter Hogwarts feeling as lost as she had. But this was the first time Gin had truly expressed her concern.

Serenity gave the girl a comforting smile,"there is no way no one would like you Gin, and besides you can always come talk to me about anything alright?"

The younger girl looked at her thoughtfully and grinned, "Promise?"

"Promise" Ren said and they both shared a grin.

A few hours later, Serenity sat on the couch closest to the front window as she tried to read the Transfiguration book Jules had given her for the summer, but it was no use; she was just too nervous. She sighed as she closed her book and glanced down at her watch, half past two in the morning, where were they?

At least the rest of the house was still silent; even Ginny who had been adamant on staying up until Harry arrived had eventually fallen asleep. The only thing that could be heard was the faint rattle of the ghoul in the attic and the ticking of her watch.

Groaning, Ren put her book down and climbed into her sleeping bag next to Gin. Hopefully she would wake up when they arrived; she so did want to see Harry.

* * *

A low rumble of a car and a soft screech awoke her, the sun was shining and she could smell bacon cooking. Her eyes widened, if she could smell that heavenly scent it meant one thing and one thing only; Mrs. Weasley was up and the boys were so busted!

Ren leaned up on the couch and peaked out the window, she could see four very familiar boys as they climbed out of the old car. Quickly and silently as she could, Ren grabbed her sneakers and threw them on before she raced out the front door hoping to warn them before _she_ saw them.

Harry spotted her before the others did; he squinted to be sure and grinned as he realized it was indeed Serenity. She threw her arms around him and gave him tight hug before she instantly let him go, reeled back and slugged him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Harry cried out as rubbed his arm in hopes to ease the pain.

"Why didn't answer our letters, you git!" she cried out.

"It wasn't my fault Ren I promise…" he trailed off as she had suddenly dropped her accusing glare and widened her eyes fearfully towards the brothers, "you were supposed to be here hours ago! Now _she's_ awake!"

All three Weasley boys' eyes widened and a fearful look that reflected Ren's appeared on their faces. "_She's _awake?" Ron squeaked out as his face turned green.

The hair on the back of Harry's neck began to rise; obviously the four of them were scared, and he was certainly afraid to find out who they were scared of.

"Oh dear" George said.

Harry and Ren both looked to see Mrs. Weasley as she marched towards them and came to a screeching halt, "_Beds empty-no note-car gone! You could have crashed! You could have been seen!" _their mother bellowed before she turned to Harry, "Not that I blame you dear."

Ren's watched in amusement as Mrs. Weasley continued her rant at her sons and every once in a while reassure Harry that she didn't blame him in the least, she desperately tried to hold back her laughter but a small snort slipped out.

Her eyes widened as the angry mother turned her attention on to her, "Don't you dare think I don't know you and Ginny had a part of this Serenity Black! Now all of you march back up to the house and get to the table, you're going to eat breakfast and then you're going to de-gnome the garden! Except you Harry dear, you can go back to bed if you like."

Harry quickly shook his head, "I'll help Ron if it's alright, Mrs. Weasley."

The angered women's eyes softened and she gave him a small smile before she turned angrily at the others, "Get to the table now! March!" she practically screeched as she pointed to her home.

The Weasley brothers and Ren hurried in as fast as they could and sat down at the kitchen table where Percy was already eating. Ginny hurried in from upstairs and made to sit down next to Ren when she spotted Harry, she suddenly gave a small squeak and bolted towards her room.

Harry glanced around at the amusement on everyones face, "what just happened?" he asked in confusion. The brothers snorted into their foods as Ren rolled her eyes at their childish attitude. "Gin has a slight...crush on you, you know hero of the world and all" she admitted with a grin.

Harry's eyes widened, he didn't know how to respond to that at all, instead he ignored the brothers snickering and the tell tale sign of embarrassment as it crawled up his neck and dug into his breakfast, savoring the first full meal he had in a while.

The rest of the day went by relatively quickly, as they completed their punishment for conspiracy and sneaking out. Soon it was time for Serenity to go home, Ginny had walked her friend to the fireplace excitedly talking about plans for their shopping trip for school supplies when Harry and Ron hurried into the Living Room to say goodbye to Ren before she left.

At the sight of Harry, Ginny gave the older girl a quick hug and dashed away, much to the older girl's amusement.

Ron rolled his eyes as his little sister vanished form sight, "we'll see you next week Ren" he said with a grin.

Serenity smiled at Ron and stepped into the fireplace before she suddenly stopped and began to dig into her bag and pulled out a wrapped package. She hurried out of the fireplace and handed the gift to Harry, "Here Harry, before I forget. Happy Belated Birthday!" she said with a smile.

With that, she reached up and gave him a swift kiss on his cheek before she turned around and hurried into the fireplace.

"Oakwood Cottage!" she called out loudly, she disapeared in a flash of emarld green fire, leaving a blushing Harry and a very shocked Ron behind.

* * *

**Psychoyoshi79-** Oh! Don't worry I have that all planned out. I actually am a bit tired of the "date the first, love the second" formula that is always used, and I too find it annoying when the main character has like four relationships before the "real deal" so I'm going a slightly more…limited path. I don't want to give it all away but the main plan is to keep her "relationship" with just Harry. I have more important issues for them to deal with that affect their relationship, so adding any real complications such as additional people would probably make it a little messy and give me a terrible headache! Lol!

Ps. let me know what you think of the ending, I have this awkward feeling about it so I need your opinion :)


	2. Diagon Alley

**AN: **Hey everyone! I did not fall off the face of the earth! I swear! I just had a lot of trouble with this chapter (I don't even think I truly succeeded so I promise heavy editing will continue), there was so much to work with and I feel like I couldn't get the flow of it either. I want to crank out as many chapters for this book as quickly as I can, but like I said earlier, this book is my least favorite in the series, and though I have tons of ideas for the characters I am definitely struggling with the motivation (not to mention how busy I've been all week!) So please be patient with me.

I have a cover for the story, but still no title! I really appreciate the ideas I received from Idizzle22 and Diamondgirl13(they help me create the ones below)! It's just after a catchy, cute, light-hearted name like Ickle Firstie, I'm having trouble deciding something more serious! I have a few more ideas and I hope you all give your opinion;

Second Year Terror  
Petrified Second  
Secrets Can Kill  
Petrified Secrets  
Secrets That Petrify  
The Price That Secrets Keep  
Snakes, Spiders, and Gilderoy Lockheart  
Not Everything is as it Seems

Let me know what you guys think!  
MischievousAngel

* * *

It was a beautiful Thursday morning; the weather was warm, breezy, and sunny, her favorite spot in her backyard seemed to call out to her. Alas she was stuck inside at the kitchen table with Juliet, various Transfiguration books surrounded them, along with worksheets that Juliet had created to help her study.

Ren held back a groan of frustration, it wasn't that she didn't enjoy Juliet's company because she did; it was just one of those days that she really didn't want to do the extra school work. Though being tutored by Juliet was definitely interesting, especially since they weren't allowed to use magic at all.

For most of the summer Ren felt like she was just reviewing what they had learned the year before, but the day after she came home from the Weasleys, Juliet started to teacher her about The Five Exceptions of Gamps Law of Elemental Transfiguration, something that actually answered a lot of questions that Serenity didn't realize she had. Juliet had decided that the best way to help her understand Transfigurations would be to teach her about the limitations behind it, she claimed that if Ren understood the theory of it completely, then it might be easier for her to concentrate on the spells later.

"So let me get this right, there are things, very important things that we can't conjure out of thin air, which also means that you can't truly transfigure those things from something else, or you can but it's only temporary?" Ren stated as a question, she wasn't so sure about this, though it did make sense didn't it? If they could truly transfigure money than she and Remus wouldn't have to struggle so much and if Voldemort had been able to transfigure something into a Sorcerer's Stone than he wouldn't have needed to break into Hogwarts last year, so obviously there were limitations in magic.

Juliet grinned and nodded her head proudly, "That's right! Money, food, intentional injuries caused by dark magic, bringing back the dead, precious metals, all this is an exception to the law."

"But why?"

Her tutor gave her a small shrug, "Honestly I can only speculate, but I think it has more to do with a higher power, karma, the laws of the universe, whatever you want to call it. The things we can't fix are things we have to work for or learn from, their basic needs we have…I mean if we were able to do whatever we wanted from magic than what would stop anyone from trying to become gods?"

Serenity rested her elbows on her kitchen table and rubbed her eyes with her hands; theories, she hated theories, they were very addicting but they made her head hurt far too quickly.

Jules laughed at the frustrated look on Ren's face and pulled out a few work sheets for her to do, both sat in comfortable silence as Ren worked diligently. Soon sounds of angry whispers floated in from the Living Room, both girls froze and strained to hear what was happening.

"_I don't understand Remus! You know how I feel about you, and you've admitted you've felt the same! We've practically shared a life together; we raised a wonderful little witch, so what exactly is you excuse now!"_

"_You know why! I'm too dangerous, I can't give you anything you need or even provide for you properly."_

The girls heard a very un-lady like snort, _"Bullocks! You've protected and provided for Ren just fine, so don't use that bloody excuse with me. You know what I think? I think you're just bloody coward!"_ A loud slam echoed through the cottage and met with silence.

Juliet gave a sympathetic glance towards the young girl who looked a bit shocked and hesitated "Did you know something was going on?" She finally asked.

Serenity glanced to her tutor and friend for a moment before she nodded, "Yeah it's been on and off since I came home from school. I've always wanted them to get together but they've been arguing for a couple of weeks now. They have been trying to keep me from hearing them, but well it's not working out that well. I'm not too worried, they always make up by supper."

And she was right because Emma had returned to the cottage for supper and informed Ren that she would be watching her the next day as Remus worked at the Muggle library a few towns away. Ren watched as the two adults in her life proceeded to talk happily with each other, which, ironically enough, annoyed her to no end, but she wasn't going to get involved, they were the adults and they needed to work it out themselves.

The next afternoon, Beowulf glided into their cottage and dropped a letter with a very familiar seal onto her lap before he flew off towards his favorite spot out back; she tore open the note excited to see what would be in-store for her Second Year at Hogwarts. Her excitement however ended rather quickly as she read down the list of books she would have to buy, "You have got to be kidding me!" Ren groaned out angrily, she hated Gilderoy Lockheart!

It is true, that when his books first came out she enjoyed them and she had even been a fan of his, that is, until his very popular book _Wandering with the Werewolves _came out. She had been horrified as she read it; most of what he had written was complete fabrications and definitely wouldn't help society's view on werewolves. He made them all sound like wild, uncivilized monsters and though she would admit that there were some groups who chose to be that way, she knew, from personal experience obviously, that many of them were everyday people just trying to make a life for themselves. Appalled with what she had read, she had refused to even look at a Lockheart book ever again, if he had falsely written about Werewovles how could she believe anything else he had written. The man now officially disgusted her, and now she would have to buy the whole series for school!

Emma rushed into the room and began to search the piles of books near the fireplace, "Serenity, have you seen my potion bo…" she paused when she saw how upset the girl appeared to be, "what on earth is the matter?" Emma asked.

Ren glanced up from her letter and sighed before she handed it over to the older witch, who took it from her and began to read it. "Lockheart's books are on the reading list! Who in their right mind would use any of that wanker's work to teach students?" she asked.

"A fan, obviously. I still have his first few books in my room, but I'm going to have to buy all the rest." Ren huffed in annoyance, "so much for my little strike against Lockheart."

Emma gave an amused snort as she continued to read down the list, "Well looks like we'll have to go to Diagon Alley Soon. Why don't you write Hermione and see if she can join us, I know how much you girls had missed each other."

Ren perked up, "that's a great idea Emma!" she exclaimed excitedly, she then jumped up from her spot and pecked the older witch on the cheek before she ran off to write a letter to her best friend.

* * *

"Mione!" Serenity cried out happily as she squeezed her friend tightly, she couldn't believe how much she had missed her best friend. "Oh, Ren! It's so good to see you! I can't believe we never got together over the summer!" Hermione cried out.

Ren giggled and nodded her head, "I know right? I ended up just lounging around most of the summer!"

Hermione gave a laugh and pulled her towards the table that her parents and Emma had sat down at for lunch; it had been Ren's idea for them to meet up for lunch before they would meet up with the Harry and the Weasleys, she had wanted some girl time with 'Mione before she had to share her with the others and it gave Emma and 'Mione's parents, a good opportunity to become friends.

"The beef stew is excellent here," Emma said to the Granger's as Ren and Hermione sat down.

"Oh good, I must confess I was a bit worried about what they would serve here, Hermione told us how different everything was for wizard's including food." Mrs. Granger admitted with a sheepish grin.

Ren giggled at the blush that formed across her friend's face, of course hers became just as red with embarrassment as lunch went on; Emma and Mrs. Granger were happily exchanging embarrassing stories from their childhood, much to their dismay. "Poor Serenity was so embarrassed!" Emma exclaimed after her last story which caused both women to cry in laughter.

"So where are we meeting the Weasleys?" Ren asked in attempt to move the conversation away from her, that was a horribly embarrassing story and one she didn't really remember to begin with.

"Gringotts, in about a half hour," Hermione answered as she watched her mother wearily, she really hoped that was the end of that.

Finally, the humiliating lunch was over and both girls dragged their families over to Gringotts to get enough Galleons for school, all the while Serenity told Hermione about the rescue trip in detail as well as her new friendship with Ron's younger sister. "I really can't wait for you to meet her 'Mione, she's a little firecracker." They both waited impatiently for the arrival of their friends and it wasn't for another good fifteen minutes that they spotted a gaggle of red-heads,

"There!" Hermione exclaimed, "I see them! Wait, where's Harry?"

Serenity shrugged as she followed " 'Mione down the stone steps, "I don't know…oh there he is with Hagrid!" Sure enough their shaggy haired friend walked towards the Weasleys with Hagrid by his side, they watched as Mrs. Weasley fussed over Harry while almost swinging Ginny with her other hand.

The youngest of the clan spotted Serenity and quickly called out Ren's name which caused her mother to pause her rant, allowed Ginny to slip her arm free and race over towards the older girls. "Thank Merlin you made it! I thought I was going to have to deal with her on my own! And Harry was no help either!"

Serenity glanced at the young girl slightly confused, "Why?' she asked, "What happened?"

"Well," Ginny began, "turns out he's never used Floo before and he ended up in Knockturn Alley. The boys were impressed, mother however nearly had a stroke."

The girls made their way to the Weasleys, Emma and the Grangers close behind. Hermione instantly threw her arms around Harry and hugged him tightly before she turned around and began to reprimand Ron for his rescue mission.

Harry grinned at the shocked look on Ron's face before he turned to Serenity and pulled her into a hug, "Did she rant at you as well?"

Serenity giggled ad shook her head as she let go of him, "No, but then again I was only a conspirator, I didn't actually go with him."

He laughed and shook his head before he followed the Weasleys into Gringotts, while she and Hermione waited on a bench outside.

"So," Emma exclaimed as she plopped down beside her and threw her arm over her shoulder, "that's Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived?"

Ren nodded her head, "yeah, one of my best friends at Hogwarts too."

Emma gave a small smile before her look turned serious, "Sweatheart, I know you've heard Remus and I fighting these past few weeks...I want just to tell you that everything is fine and we're working things out."

Serenity almost rolled her eyes but restrained herself out of respect for them, "I know Emma." She said, because honestly that's all that she could say, she didn't want to get involved and she didn't want to cause any possible fights but she knew that she needed to acknowledge that there was a problem at home, one that she couldn't solve.

After what seemed like forever Harry and the Weasley's exited the bank looking no worse for wear. Mr. Weasley went straight up to Emma and the Grangers and invited them out for a drink. Mrs. Weasley told them that they could wander around for a while as long as they all met up at Flourish and Blotts in an hour and then she dragged Ginny away, who looked back at Serenity with a pleading look only to be met with an apologetic shrug.

Serenity glanced at her friends with a wide grin on her face, "So?" she asked, "Where to first?"

"Well, I know we need to get some ink and parchment for school..." Hermione began. Ron snorted and cut her off, " 'Mione, we have a whole hour to get that, I personally want to go see what's new at Quality Quidditch Supplies." Serenity watched as Hermione stopped walking and began to square her shoulders in preperation for a good scolding.

Harry glanced around a realized that they had stopped in front of an ice cream palor, "Why don't I treat you all to some stawberry and peanut-butter ice cream?" He asked. Hermione seemed to sort of deflate, as she ignored Ron and nodded her head at Harry, "that does sound wonderful Harry, thank you."

Ron grinned, "That sounds awesome!" he said.

"Oh, that does sound good!" 'Mione agreed.

Personally Serenity thought stawberry and peanut-butter ice cream sounded terrible, she would personally have preferred chocolate or cookies and cream, but all three of her friends wanted that flavor, so she sucked up her disgust and agreed, after all Emma had always said you should be thankful for what your given.

Harry hurried inside the shop and waited in line to order. Serenity watched him through the window, while she tuned out the argument that had brewed once again between Hermione and Ron, "Ren? Don't you agree?" Hermione asked, snapping out of her musings.

Serenity grinned sheepishly and shrugged, "sorry I wasn't listening" she admitted, much to 'Mione's annoyance and Ron's amusement. The shop door chimed and Harry hurried over to them carrying four double scoop ice cream cones, three strawberry and peanut-butter, and one double chocolate.

Ren had begun to scold herself for deciding not to ask for what she had really wanted earlier when Harry handed her the double chocolate. " I could tell by the look on your face that you didn't really like the idea of strawberry and peanut-butter" he said with a small shrug which caused her to blush horribly, she had hoped that she had hidden her disgust well and now that she knew she hadn't, well that was a tad humiliating.

"Thank you" she replied quietly. Harry gave her a grin, "No problem, not everyone likes strawberry and peanut butter."

Ron stared at her with astonishment, "How can you not like strawberry and peanut-butter ice cream? you eat both togther all the time, you know peanut-butter and jam!"

"It taste different!" she snapped back in annoyance, before she turned away from him, Ron could really be such a toad sometimes!

The small group of friends continued on their way towards Flourish and Blotts, they stopped at various stores along the way to get supplies and met up with Ron's brothers before they all made their way to the book store.

There was a large gathering outside of Flourish and Blotts, and the crowd seemed to grow as they forced their way through the entrance. As they came closer to the door Ren could see a sign in the window that announced a book signing by Gilderoy Lockheart. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and threw a glare Hermione's way as she squealed excitedly about meeting him. Ren, however was not impressed. Still the four of them hurried inside and grabbed their _Standard Book of Spells Grade 2, _before they headed over to where Ron had spotted his family, Hermione's parents, and Emma standing in line to see _him_.

Well, all of the Weasley's except Ginny, who was stood out of the way next to her new cauldron. Serenity decided that she'd rather be off in the corner with Gin than meet someone who had annoyed her without having ever met them, so she pushed past the excited fans and made her way over to the fiery redhead, "I really don't want to meet this guy" she admitted to her.

Ginny snorted and looked out of the corner of her eye towards Ren; she was surprised to see her friend so unhappy at the thought of meeting the writer, which was odd as many witches, including her own mother, seemed to be fond of him. Curiosity overwhelmed the young witch which caused her to fidget nervously until she asked, "Why don't you like him Ren?"

Serenity's face flushed in either annoyance or embarrassment, Ginny couldn't really tell which. "I read a few of his books," the older girl admitted, "I just don't agree with what he has to say, especially about Werewolves, he made them all sound like monsters."

"Well…aren't they?" Ginny asked carefully.

Ren frowned at her friend and shrugged, "Some are I guess, but what about the ones who are just trying to live a quite normal life? People like Lockheart don't understand the impact they have on society's view of them, nor do I think he cares…which is why I despise the man."

Ginny nodded, "I never thought of it that way, well at least it can't get any worse" she admitted, still slightly shocked and a bit confused at her friend's obvious irritation and knowledge of the matter.

Serenity threw her a small smirk before she turned her attention back to the chaos in front of them; both snorted in laughter as Ron seemed to continuously be trampled on, Emma heard them and threw a grin their way and before she turned back around and proceeded to help Hermione's parents decipher Mr. Weasley's questions about their muggle lives.

All too soon, in Serenity's opinion anyway, Gilderoy Lockheart glided into the room, the audience broke into cheers and the witches seemed to swoon at his entrance, Ginny giggled at the sight which caused Serenity to give a small smile of her own.

A sharp yelp drew Ren's attention away from Lockheart and back towards the Weasleys where she could see Ron scowling at a rather large man who held a camera in his hands. It was soon obvious that Ron's yelp hadn't only caught her attention, it had captured Lockheart's as well and as he gazed upon the loud redhead, he soon caught sight of Harry. They watched as he leapt up and shouted, "It _can't_ be Harry Potter?"

Ginny and Ren shared a worried glance as they witnessed Lockheart practically pounce on top of his fans to get to Harry and drag him back up front to pose for the camera.

"Why's Harry letting him do that?" Ginny mumbled to her.

Ren shook her head as she continued to watch the scene, "I don't think he let him do anything Gin," she said with a small frown, "Look at how embarrassed he is."

It was indeed obvious that Harry was embarrassed about the whole thing, his face was almost as red as Ron's hair and it only got worse as Lockheart refused to let him go, "Ladies and Gentleman," he called out loudly, the crowd grew steadily quiet as he continued his announcement, "What an extraordinarily perfect moment for me to announce a little secret that I have been keeping for quite some time! When young Harry stepped into this store he only wanted my autobiography- which he shall get free of charge. He had no idea that he was getting the real magical me! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I Gilderoy Lockheart, have the great pride and pleasure in announcing that I will be the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts starting this September!"

Serenity paled at the announcement and moaned loudly, "Oh Merlin Gin! The year hasn't even started and already became a whole lot worse!"

Ginny didn't know how to react to that but she didn't need to worry because as soon as she glanced away from the dramatically sick look on Serenity's face, Harry hurried over and dropped his free Lockheart books into her cauldron, much to her embarrassment.

"Here Gin, you can have these, I'm going to buy mine later." He said before he glanced over to Ren who still looked a bit pale, "Are you alright Ren?" He asked with concern.

Serenity nodded her head, "Yeah, how 'bout you? You looked a bit red up there." Harry blushed in response and shook his head.

"That's an understatement isn't it Potter" a snobby voice said behind her. She glanced behind to see the blonde cretin make his way over to the three of them.

Harry's eyes darkened with anger, "Malfoy."

"I'm surprised though, I thought you loved the spotlight? _Famous Potter_, you can't even walk into a bookstore without it being on the front page news."

Ginny squared her shoulders, "Leave alone! He didn't want all that!" she said.

Serenity glanced over at Ginny and frowned, "Don't listen to him Gin; Malfoy here is just jealous that he doesn't make the news like Harry does. Then again who would want to hear anything about a slimy cretin?"

Malfoy glowered at the girls angrily and seemed to be about to say something as Ron and Hermione made their way over.

"Oh." Ron sniffed disappointedly, "it's only you. You must be so surprised to see Harry here eh?"

Malfoy, who seemed to have forgotten about being insulted by her, snapped right back at Ron, "No, not really. Though I am surprised to see you and your family here, I guess you parents will be going hungry this month huh Weasley?"

Ron growled and threw his books into the cauldron before he pulled his arm back to take a swing at the cretin, only to be stopped by Mr. Weasley himself. "Ron! What are you doing?" he scolded slightly and began to pull his son away only to be confronted by a man who looked like an older, moldier, version of Draco.

"Well, well, Arthur Weasley."

"Lucius"

"Busy time this year at the Ministry I hear, are they paying you overtime?" he pulled out a tattered book from Ginny's cauldron and tsked, "obviously not I thought that at least with the disgrace that is your family's name they'd at least pay you well."

Mr. Weasley sniffed proudly, "I think we have a different view on what disgrace means Lucius."

Lucius Malfoy's eyes traveled over the group and landed on Serenity, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze before he narrowed his eyes at the Granger's, "Clearly," he said, " judging by the company you keep…and I thought you could sink no further."

Mr. Weasley suddenly lunged at Mr. Malfoy and knocked him into a self of books, and continued to tussle until Hagrid came over and pulled them apart. Mr. Malfoy stood up angrily and brushed off his rob before sneered at Mr. Weasley, he tossed Ginny's book back into her cauldron, "Here girl! Take the book! If it's the best your father can give you!" He glared over the group his eyes once again paused at Serenity, who edged her way behind Hagrid to hide herself from the cretin's creepy father's view, and dragged Draco out the door.

After that amazing scene, the rest of the day seemed almost uneventful. It was close to 4pm when Emma pulled Serenity over, "Sweetheart, it's time for you to say goodbye to everyine, the last of Remus's potion should be done brewing and you know he needs to take it before sunset."

"Alright Emma" she said quietly, the older witch kissed her forehead and went on to Floo home before her.

Serenity quickly gave each of her friends a hug and promised to meet them on the train. With one last wave she stepped into the firplace and prepared herself for the rough evening ahead.

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**Psychoyoshi79-** I see what you mean. I think I'm going to leave that ending as is for now (until I can figure out how to really work it in), maybe the awkwardness at the end will just be age related as you suggested. (huh… that explains a lot about my middle school years! Lol!) I don't think I'm really going to have it affect him, I feel it's more of a very innocent moment on Ren's part with a slight undertone of a romantic gesture so I can begin to prepare readers and such for the development of a relationship later (that was the thing that bugged me about Ginny/Harry the most, I always felt like it just happened instantaneously). I'm really going to need your opinion for this chapter, I still feel like it's missing something.

**TO ANY READER:** Earlier in this chapter I was going to put an embarrassing childhood memory for Ren, I couldn't really think of one that seemed to fit her character, (even mine) and googling didn't really help at all. So, I'm asking for anyone brave enough to post your most embarrassing memory that might work for Ren!

Thank You All for the reviews, alerts, followers, etc.


	3. Aren't We Missing Somebody?

**Disclaimer: I Do Not own any Harry Potter Characters only the OCs**

**AN: **Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait! I had out of town visitors this past week so everything has been hectic around here. Of course my classes also start again this month so my updates will probably only be on Sunday nights/Monday mornings and will depend on my writing assignments. This chapter is a bit short but a good transition into the rest of the book and it is also not my best chapter so it will be edited later.

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and followings!  
MischievousAngel

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"Do you see any of you friends Serenity?" Remus asked his niece, who continuously bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement.

The young witch shook her head, "Not yet! Oh, I can't wait for you to meet them Uncle Remus!"

It was true that Remus had not yet met his niece's friends, nor their parents, Emma had found that when they had plans with the other families during the full moons it seemed to distract Serenity from worrying, and so today would be the first time she would be able to introduce her Uncle to them, and she was quite excited about it. Ren scanned the crowded platform hoping to catch a glimpse of familiar red or frizzy hair; so far she had no such luck.

Emma, who had been standing rather quietly next to Remus, suddenly began to wave and call out into the crowd, Ren glanced confusedly into that direction unable to see exactly who she had been calling out too when the crowd slowly parted the way to reveal Hermione and her parents.

"'Mione!" Serenity called out cheerfully, her friend waved and hurried over to them, "Hermione, this is my Uncle Remus. Uncle Remus, this is my best friend Hermione Granger."

Remus smiled warmly and shook her hand, "Hullo, Hermione it's a pleasure to meet you. Serenity has told me so much about you already."

Hermione gave the man a wide smile, "it's nice to meet you too Mr. Lupin."

Emma chuckled and grinned at the girls before she took over the conversation and went on to introduce Hermione's parents to Remus.

Ren rolled her eyes and glanced towards her best friend, "so have you seen the Weasleys yet?" she asked casually.

Hermione shook her head, "no but they better hurry up we only have fifteen minutes until the train leaves."

"Maybe we should go ahead and find a carriage, that way we'll all have seats together for sure."

Her friend nodded in agreement and turned to her parents for her last goodbyes.

Serenity jumped into her Uncle's arms and held on tightly, he sighed sadly, "I'm sorry we didn't get to spend as much time together as you wanted munchkin."

She hugged her Uncle even tighter and buried her head into his shoulder, "it's okay Uncle Remus! I understand and I don't mind at all!" Her Uncle pulled her away and gave her a small smile before he kissed her on her forehead goodbye.

It was true, she did understand why she didn't get to see him as much, everyday newer restrictions placed on werewolves' lives forced him and others like him to struggle to live comfortably and this summer her Uncle had been lucky enough to find a well paying full time job within a muggle library a few towns over from where they lived. It was the best job he had in a while but also the most time consuming. Serenity didn't mind at all because she knew that he did everything for her, and for that she was forever grateful.

After their last goodbyes the girls boarded the Hogwarts Express and began to search for an empty compartment.

"Here's a good one!" Hermione said as she peered into a carriage, Serenity nodded and began to drag their carryon bags inside only to stop a moment as she head her name begin called out from behind her, she turned around in time to spot Ginny Weasley as she made her way to them.

"Oh thank goodness I found you two!" the fiery red-head said as she gasped for breathe.

"Hey, Ginny, where on earth have you been? The train almost left without you!"

"I know; we had to keep going back for things we had forgotten and ended up being late, have you seen Harry or Ron, they were supposed to come in right behind us but mum and I ended up being practically shoved on to the train."

Ren shook her head and motioned for the young witch to follow her inside the carriage only to trip on the luggage she carried as the train jolted into motion and fell onto the floor which caused the younger witch to cackle in laughter.

Serenity pushed herself off the floor and pulled the luggage inside as she glared at Gin before she too cracked a smile and began to laugh as well, because honestly if it had been someone else she would have been laughing at them, and if you can't laugh at yourself you have no right to laugh at others.

Hermione, who had not witnessed the scene, watched the two mischievous witches enter the carriage wearily. The girl's laughter soon died down and 'Mione once again questioned the whereabouts of their friends, "where do you think the boys are?"

Ren shrugged and frowned, "Gin said they came through the barrier behind her and her mum, they probably sat with the other boys, I'm sure we'll see them at the feast."

Hermione frowned again, unsure she liked how unworried Serenity was about the whole thing, "well I'm going to see if I can find them, I'll feel better if I know their safely on the train" she sighed before she stood up to leave the carriage, "you two stay right here in case they come searching for us."

Serenity nodded her head in agreement and watched her worried friend leave the carriage quickly; she turned towards Ginny and watched as the younger girl dug through her satchel and pulled out a worn black leather bond book, "that's not a school book is it?" Ren asked curiously.

"No, it's an old journal I found; I've been writing in it for the past few weeks," Ginny paused for a moment and shifted uncomfortably, "do you think it's alright to talk to a journal? I mean, have you ever had one before?"

Ren furrowed her eyebrows at the strange questioned and nodded, "well yeah, I think everyone has had one at some point, my Uncle bought me a new one last Christmas. I've always found it to be a great way to relieve the stress and worries of a day, that and it definitely helped me figure out answers to certain problems I was having at the time, you know…when I didn't have anyone else to talk too."

Ginny grinned and nodded happily at her before she opened the journal up eagerly and began to write.

About ten minutes had passed before Ginny had put the journal away and Hermione had returned even more worried than she was before. She had been unable to find the boys anywhere and despite Serenity's insistence that they were fine she too couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't on the train at all.

An Uncomfortable silence filled their carriage, Hermione pulled out Lockhart book and began reading while Ginny opened up her journal and once again began to write. Serenity tried to read her new Transfiguration book but she couldn't seem to concentrate…she sighed and placed the open book on her crossed legs before she laid her head against the train window and watched the landscape zoom past.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as a reflective light in the corner of her sight caught her attention. Serenity strained her eyes on the sky above and tried to catch a glimpse of what the sunlight had reflected on. She blinked in confusion as she thought she spotted a car in the sky before it disappeared again, she shook her head and turned back to her book and prayed that she wasn't seeing things.

Once they had arrived at Hogwarts Ginny was reluctantly separated from them and ushered towards the boats. Both Serenity and Hermione were still unable to spot the boys and as each moment passed the worry that was shared between them grew.

Lavender soon spotted them and ran over pulling each into a long hug, "oh! It's so good to see you both again! Here, Parvati and Padma are grabbing a carriage why don't you ride up with us?"

Serenity nodded as she glanced around one last time with hope that she would spot the boys, before she let Lavender pull her towards the carriage the twins were waiting in. She sat down next Hermione who looked at her questioningly, "we'll wait until we get to the castle and then we'll tell McGonagall" she said as her answer.

Hermione nodded, "Alright."

As soon as they arrived to the castle the girls ran inside to speak to McGonagall only to be informed that she was down by the docs waiting for the Years to arrive. They glanced at each other and began to head for Professor Flitwick only to be stopped by Professor Snape " Why are you ladies running around instead of waitg for the feast to begin?" he asked snidely.

Serenity gave an apologetic glance to Hermione before tshe told him everything, "We couldn't find Harry or Ron anware Professor. They weren't on the train and we have not seen them here at the castle either."

Hermione stared in shock that Serenity had just told _Snape_ of all people that the boys were missing.

"Interesting," Snape replied, "may I suggest you go on to the feast and leave the trouble making to Potter and Weasley?"

Ren and Hermione gave him a slight nod, "yes Professor" they said before they hurried into the Great Hall.

"Why did you just do that? Professor Snape will surely get them expelled now! You know he has something out for them!" Hermione hissed at her.

Serenity nodded, "exactly, he would do anything to catch them at something bad. That also means he'll search high and low for them."

"At the expense that they might get expelled?"Hermione shrieked.

"Dumbledore won't expel Harry!"

"You don't know that Serenity!"

Both girls sat down at the end of the table and watched as the hat began to place the First Years. They hadn't even gotten to the Cs yet when Flic huried to McGonagall and whispered something in her ear. She nodded her head and continued through the placement ceremony, but as soon as it was over and Dumbledore had spoken thical wordse to make the food appear they both rushed out of the Great Hall.

Students began whispering and speculating what could have happened to evoke such a response. By the end of dinner the entirety of the Gryffindor class had heard that both Ron and Harry had flown the Weasley car to get to school. At first they didn't believe it, that is until Hary and Ron confirmed it.

The whole Common Room was thrilled to have such trouble makers in their midst, Fred and George seemed both proud and jealous of the whole thing, and Hermione looked like she want to lecture them on the irresponsibility of the whole thing.

Serenity gave each of the boys a hug before she punched them in the arm for makinge her worried and then dragged her stressed out frizzy haired friend to the girls dormitory, "come one 'Mione you can lecture them tomorrow, just be happy their safe for now okay?"

Hermione frowned before she gave in and nodded her head. Serenity sighed thankfully, the day had been unecessarily stressful enough, she didn't want the rest of the evening ruined because her friends were fighting already, she took a deep breathe rest of the year was not as eventful as tonight had been.

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**An: Yeah that definitely needs to be worked on**

**Blacksgurl525- **Oh wow! I'm so sorry that happened! I would have been mortified

**Psychoyoshi79- **Ah, the crush… **SPOILERS!** there will be some awkward moment here and there within book two, but it's in year three that she begins to "look" at him differently. It's actually more of a realization that she doesn't have "sisterly" feelings towards him and it's faint enough that other the issues she's dealing with overshadows it. It will be in book four where they both fully develop feelings for Each other about the same time (during his fight with Ron they spend quite a bit of quality time together which triggers everything.


End file.
